Fluid management significantly affects many aspects of health care and is involved in many medical procedures. For example, wound care typically involves absorbing and/or draining wound exudates, blood, serum and other body fluids from the patient. Surgical procedures often create wounds requiring tissue management and fluid drainage. For example, skin grafts have exudates and bleeding that requires management at both the donor and graft sites. However, current tissue management and fluid drainage procedures are often ineffective in maintaining optimum moisture content for promoting wound healing. Excessive drying can lead to desiccation. Excessive moisture, on the other hand, can lead to maceration. Reepithelialization interference, tissue breakdown and necrosis can result therefrom.
Various types of porous, absorbent dressing materials have been used for dressing wounds to accumulate body fluids. The dressing materials facilitate drainage and also the collection and disposal of fluids. A disadvantage with many conventional dressings is that they require changing in order to reduce the risk of infection and to maintain effectiveness. Dressing changes can add significantly to treatment costs and are associated with patient discomfort and medical risks such as infection and damage to reepithelialized tissues. Accordingly, vacuum sources have been employed to drain wounds. For example, Zamierowski U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,969,880; 5,100,396; 5,261,893; 5,527,293 and 6,071,267 pertain to wound dressings, fluid connections, fastening systems and medical procedures utilizing same in connection with vacuum-assisted wound drainage, and are incorporated herein by reference.
Wound treatment procedures can include diffusing wound sites with liquids to flush contaminants, counter infection, promote healing growth and anesthetize the wound. Prior art fluid delivery systems include a device for treating tissues disclosed in the Svedman U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,441; a product and process for establishing a sterile area of skin disclosed in the Groves U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,332; and the transdermal infusion device disclosed in the Westin U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,399. Equipment has also been available which flushes and collects contaminants from wounds.